When well-known A-list retailers seek a world-class full-service print provider for their important retail solutions, they turn to Dana Industries. Established exactly 25 years ago, Dana Industries has grown its business from its base in Toronto to facilities in the U.S., China, and Singapore. Its portfolio includes custom shelf talkers, retail store fixtures and displays, large format printing and product packaging, all delivered with unique breakthrough solutions in incredibly fast turnaround times and incomparable quality and outstanding service. The privately owned firm prides itself in offering premium marketing tools to its clients.

As the retail marketing landscape continues to more intensely focus on its intended audience, Dana Industries has committed itself to letting those major brands speak directly to these niche markets through aggressive and pro-active in-store shelf signage. “We’re seeing trends in which brands are requesting more pop, more vibrant color, more messaging, and customization,” says John Ricci, president of Dana Industries. “In today’s world, there is a wider age group of shoppers and niche groups, such as those who seek healthy living, low salt, vegan, or senior citizens, pet owners, and craft beer drinkers, who are busier than ever and are time-sensitive. Our mandate is to reach these shoppers with effective, engaging campaigns—similar to a mini billboard.”

A major part of Dana’s quarter-of-a-century allure is its one-stop full-service total retail solution offering a skillful design team for innovative concepts, dedicated print department with the latest automated equipment for prototyping and final product, and fast and high quality full conversion and in-store execution all in-house. This gives the firm complete control over its products in a highly secure fashion.

With the tremendous explosion of growth at Dana, management decided that it needed a larger press than its current pressroom models including a Koenig & Bauer Genius 52 14 x 20-inch press. This fall, a Koenig & Bauer Rapida 75 PRO with LED-UV drying was commissioned at Dana’s 35,000 sq ft facility outside of Toronto. It is the first half-format press incorporating this innovative drying technology in the country. Dana purposely built a special 4,000 sq ft humidity-controlled print room within its facility to self-contain the new Rapida 75 PRO. The new Rapida 75 PRO expands the firm’s capabilities for both its customers and its own production.

“We could see a lot of value in the Rapida 75 PRO,” says Ricci. “We now have a 2 ½ bigger sheet size with the Rapida 75 PRO compared to the Genius. Its standard print format has grown to 20.4 x 28.9-inches. We’ll now be able to produce 80% of our work in-house compared to 20% before. This is a big step up for us.”

Due to the necessary increase in speed, efficiency, and makeready, Dana sought a press that could successfully handle its shorter run lengths and produce more runs with fewer plate changes. Its new Rapida 75 PRO answers those challenges with its One-Button-Job-Change feature, which provides a reduction in makeready times by up to 50%. All pre-selected makeready processes are carried out at the touch of a button in an optimized sequence according to time. Job and press settings can be loaded at the ErgoTronic console during production. This program for job changing makes operating the press easier and reduces makeready times even further.

With the requirement for additional color and more pop, Dana is satisfied that the new Rapida 75 PRO features the same ColorTronic ink ducts as those found in medium- and large-format Rapidas. Just like the other Rapidas, the ink keys are 1.18-inches and there are now 25 keys.

Ricci and his team were also impressed with the press design of the Rapida 75 PRO, which moves it even closer to medium-format models such as the Rapida 105 and Rapida 106. The ErgoTronic console is a standard feature equipped with the TouchTronic graphical user interface. Job management (console) and press operation (delivery screen) are no longer separate. Dana’s press operators will be xx with the user-friendliness of the Rapida 75 PRO’s touchscreen operation. All of the press’ functions are controlled with a maximum of two touches of a button.

“Let’s talk about the advantages of the LED-UV curing process,” says Ricci. “Not only does it bring tangible economic benefits, such as reduced energy consumption and significant material savings, but we’re able to print our shelf signage using plastic substrates and it will run cooler, and, due to the lower temperatures, the substrate won’t crack, peel, or split. In the past, if we had to run the job through a press in two or three passes, the substrate would be more brittle. With the Rapida 75 PRO, we won’t face that challenge any more.”

As Dana Industries continues its leadership position as a full-service provider of total retail solutions, it will remain innovative and customer-focused by promising to be first-to-market with new solutions and exceeding its customer expectations. “Our goal is to drive sales for our retail customers while delivering value in the form of product information and enhancing brand presence. Our shelf talkers continue to be unique and appealing while representing one of the simplest yet effective tools to draw a consumer to a product. Our new Rapida 75 PRO will be a key component in providing that promise,” Ricci affirms.

Left to right: John Ricci, president of Dana Industries; and Luis De Oliveira, Dana’s press operator; see tremendous value in its new Koenig & Bauer Rapida 75 PRO with LED-UV drying.